Matthew Albright is The News Journal's engagement editor. Contact him at malbright@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2428 or on Twitter @TNJ_malbright.

I'm certainly no fan of President Donald Trump, but I don't like the way so many people are making the upcoming elections all about him. I fear an obsession with our headline-hogging president is going to cause voters to abandon their responsibility to judge state and local candidates on their own merits.

It seems like every day you see a new political analysis that says "the mid-term elections are a referendum on Trump." Many are predicting that Democrats and independents are so disgusted at President Donald Trump's administration and the Republican-controlled Congress that they will indiscriminately sweep the GOP out of office up and down the ballot, all across the country.

Look, I can't wait to vote against Trump. But I don't think it's smart to let my opinion of him color every electoral decision I make.

Blindly voting a partisan ticket lets politicians off the hook. If they know that they can count on voters to protect them just because of their party, why should they feel a sense of urgency to tackle difficult problems? What spurs them to work hard for their constituents?

Elections are job interviews, and we're the bosses. If you reflexively vote for one side of the ballot, you're not doing your part to make sure we hire the best employees.

Also, state and local officials generally face different issues than the president or Congress. So punishing one for the actions of the other makes little sense.

The state treasurer deals with things like the state investment portfolio and its employee pensions. Why should the Trump's immigration policy, no matter how cruel, affect who we pick for that job?

The state auditor is supposed to make sure state agencies are spending taxpayer money effectively. Why should efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, no matter how frustrating, matter in who we choose to do that?

For offices like these, experience and qualifications matter as much or more than ideology.

At the state and local level, politicians are much less likely to rigidly stick to party-line votes than Congress. So voting for one party doesn't necessarily guarantee you'll get the policies you want.

Is student debt a top issue for you? You should probably vote Democrat for Congress. But, at the state level, it's a Republican senator, Greg Lavelle, who is proposing a tax break for Delawareans with student debts.

Does the Trump administration's dismantling of environmental regulations dismay you? By all means, vote Democrat at the federal level to stop it. But, at the state level, it was Republican Sen. Ernie Lopez who sponsored a bill to ban offshore drilling in state waters — a bill almost all Republicans voted for.

Some Democrats will tell you these bills are cynical attempts by their sponsors to artificially inflate their reputations as moderates in an election year. But the fact is that plenty of bills pass every year with both Republican and Democratic votes.

Sure, Republicans in Congress may kill any bill that even mentions guns. But, in Delaware, many Republicans voted for gun control bills this year, from banning bump stocks to allowing police to temporarily take guns from those suffering from mental illness. One of the only bills Republicans united against was one banning "assault weapons" — and even some Democrats bucked their party on that one.

This isn't just about one side of the aisle. If you're a Republican who thinks Congressional Democrats are a bunch of socialists, you shouldn't necessarily equate your local Democrat with Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer.

There are Democrats who reliably oppose minimum wage increases. There are Democrats who support the death penalty. There are even some Democrats who are solid "no" votes on gun control.

Unless you're a party loyalist or a single-issue voter — and I bet most Delawareans are neither — voting a straight ticket might not get you the results you expect.

I understand that many people are champing at the bit to vote against Donald Trump. That is completely understandable, given the daily outrages he inflicts on us.

But, before you try and send a message by voting against somebody else in his stead, make sure your vote is going to someone who actually deserves it.